Kenkichi Saito

Kenkichi Saito was already 1.75 m tall when attending high school on Sado island and became well-known as an all-round sportsman. He was active in sumo, judo, kendo, athletics, swimming, baseball, and rowing. To become a teacher, he entered Niigata Normal School in the former town of Takada and then advanced to Tokyo Higher Normal School. There, he joined the swimming club in his first year.

In 1916, Saito won his first national title in the 50 yard freestyle at the championship held in Osaka. The 3rd Far Eastern Games were held in Tokyo in 1917 and Saito represented the home country in athletics and swimming, winning the men’s javelin in athletics, as well as the 100 yard freestyle and the 4x100 and 4x200 freestyle relays. In the same year, he won the javelin and discus throw at the national athletics championship. He defended his title with the javelin in 1918.

For the 1920 Olympics at Antwerpen, Saito was entered in five athletic events but withdrew in all of them. In swimming, he competed in the 100 and 400 freestyles but failed to advance from the heats. Here, he learned about Duke Kahanamoku’s modern crawl style and subsequently spent a year in Europe studying sports in Western countries.

After returning to Japan, he became a teacher in Osaka Prefecture instructing physical education with the focus on swimming. Saito then moved to Manchuria, where he joined the staff of the Manchuria Medical University, the Manchurian College of Education, and the headquarters of the South Manchurian Railway Headquarters, promoting physical education at schools in Manchuria. During this time, he joined the baseball business team of the Dalian Manchu Club.

After World War II, Saito returned to his home island working as a part time teacher at the local high schools and served as a coach for his students. Later, he was appointed professor at the Faculty of Education at the Niigata and Kanazawa Universities focusing on physical education. In 1959, he joined Chukyo University as a professor before he died of gastric cancer at the age of 65.